1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, a control method therefor, and a control program. More specifically, the present invention relates to an information processing apparatus having a body area network communication function, a control method therefor, and a control program to be executed by a computer for controlling the information processing apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
For image forming apparatuses (multifunction devices), there are techniques for performing personal authentication (user authentication) by communicating with a body area network communication terminal apparatus carried by a user, using a body area network communication function.
For example, as disclosed in Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. 2010-262454, there is a technique in which when a user touches an operation panel of a multifunction device using a body area network communication function, the multifunction device communicates with a terminal apparatus carried by the user using the user's human body as a communication channel, to identify and authenticate the user based on authentication data (identification data) stored in the terminal apparatus, and then, according to the authentication result, the multifunction device controls its operation in response to an operation.
In addition, for example, as with the above-described technique, as disclosed in Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. 2010-2999, there is a technique in which communication is performed with a terminal apparatus carried by a user using a body area network communication function, to perform authentication using authentication data stored in the terminal apparatus, and then, it is further determined whether use of an identified function among functions indicated by received user information is allowed, and display according to the determination result is performed on a touch panel.
Furthermore, for example, as disclosed in Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. 2010-164663, there is a technique in which authentication is performed by the combination of fingerprint authentication and a body area network communication function, using the fingerprint of a finger with which a user touches an operation panel of a multifunction device, and communication is performed with a terminal apparatus carried by the user using the user's human body as a communication channel, to perform control based on information stored in the terminal apparatus.
In all of these techniques, authentication data stored in a terminal apparatus carried by a user is taken out using body area network communication, and authentication is performed. If the user is authenticated, then an automatic operation (operation of a multifunction device) is performed according to user information and information stored in the terminal apparatus.
As automation using body area network communication advances like the above-described conventional techniques, there arise cases in which user convenience is not always improved.
For example, even if a user carries a terminal apparatus having a body area network communication function, there may be a case in which the user does not want automatic operation based on information stored in the terminal apparatus currently carried by him/her to be performed.
In such a case, in the conventional techniques, there is a need to set a multifunction device such that it does not perform authentication itself from the start and then start an operation, or to perform an operation to forcefully stop operation that is automatically started. This ends up involving extra work. Meanwhile, there still remains a demand of a user carrying a terminal apparatus for automatic predetermined operation with minimum work.